Pacific Radiance Declares Options for ULSTEIN’s PSV Designs

In September 2013, Pacific Radiance Group announced the order for two platform supply vessels of the ULSTEIN PX121 design for construction at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding and Offshore Co., Ltd. (SWS Offshore).
The contract included options for two more vessels, and the options are now declared, the company said in its press release. “The contract with ULSTEIN comprises design and an extensive package of equipment, and we are grateful for these new orders,” says Ove Dimmen at Ulstein Design and Solutions, continuing: “It’s exciting to see that Shanghai Waigaoqiao has succeeded in introducing these efficient and flexible PSVs to the market.” In addition to PSV duties, the vessels for Pacific Radiance Group are also prepared with increased accommodation and provisions for crane and ROV installation, which give the vessels the opportunity to trade in the IMR market.

The two vessels are scheduled for delivery in Q4 2015. The PX121 design has drawn much interest worldwide since the first vessel of this type started work in 2012. The design quickly gained popularity as charterers and ship-owners discovered that the vessel meets the typical PSV requirements with a fuel efficient and competitive combination of loading capacity, speed and discharge capability. “Summary of feedback from the vessels in operation is improved regularity, low fuel consumption and a pleasing work place, which is a credit to ULSTEIN X-BOW®’s hull characteristics as well as the proven machinery and outfitting solutions,” states Ove Dimmen.

Keppel to Supply Turret for TEN FPSO Offshore Ghana

SOFEC has commissioned Keppel Shipyard to fabricate an external turret mooring system for the FPSO that will serve the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) fields offshore Ghana.
The fields are in average water depth of 1,500 m (4,921 ft). The turret is expected to be completed early next year. Bumi Armada Offshore Holdings has awarded

Keppel Singmarine contracts to build two ice-class supply vessels and an ice-class multi-purpose duty-rescue vessel, all due for delivery next year. They will support platforms serving Lukoil’s V.Filanovsky oil field development in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea. The vessels will provide year-round delivery of cargoes, salvage, search and rescue, fire-fighting, and towing and tanker mooring operations.

Fairmount Marine Towed Pipelay-Vessel Castoro Sei to Rotterdam

Tug Fairmount Glacier has towed pipelay-vessel Castoro Sei to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from where the vessel will start her seasonal activities on the North Sea. The Fairmount Glacier hooked-up with Castoro Sei in Genoa, Italy.

The Castoro Sei is a 28,000 ton DWT 152 meters long semisubmersible pipelay-vessel operated by Italian Saipem. For her towage from Genoa towards Rotterdam the Fairmount Glacier was mobilized from Las Palmas.

The convoy reached Gibraltar within six days. For the next part of the voyage, including the passage of the English Channel, the Fairmount Glacier was assisted by tug Salviceroy. Despite the bad weather encountered offshore Portugal on the Atlantic, the convoy made progress and continued towards its destination. Upon arrival Rotterdam the Castoro Sei was towed inside and safely moored. 

Intan Offshore buys AHTS for $7m

Perisai Petroleum Teknologi's indirect 51% subsidiary, Intan Offshore Labuan has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with Lewek Robin Shipping to acquire the Lewek Robin AHTS for $7m. The 2007-built vessel can accommodate a crew of 20 and has a deck space measuring 240 sq meters. Additionally, the Lewek Robin is capable of a bollard pull of 61 tonnes, a capability of handling 80 tonne anchors and is equipped with fire fighting facilities. A seven year loan worth $4.55m has been secured to
help pay for the ship. It will be bareboat chartered to Emas Offshore. The ship is the ninth to join Intan Offshore's fleet.

Keppel Offshore & Marine Units Win Orders Totalling $140 million

Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) subsidiaries Keppel Shipyard, Keppel Singmarine and Keppel
Nantong Shipyard Co have secured contracts worth a total of about $140 million. Keppel Shipyard will undertake for Sofec Inc the fabrication of an external turret mooring system for a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel that will operate in the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme fields in Ghana, in water depth averaging 1,500 metres.
Fabrication of the turret is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2015. Meanwhile, Keppel Singmarine has secured three contracts from Bumi Armada Offshore Holdings - a subsidiary of Bumi Armada - to build two iceclass supply vessels and an ice-class multi-purpose duty-rescue vessel.

US NAVY SEARCHING FOR MALAYSIA AIRLINES MH370

The crew members on board a P-8A Poseidon assigned to Patrol Squadron (VP) 16 man their workstations while assisting in search and rescue operations for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. VP-16 is deployed in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. And on the
surface the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS KIDD (DDG 100) expanded its patrol area from the northwest entrance of the Strait of Malacca into the Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea, March 16th. Upon receiving the updated tasking, KIDD and the two embarked MH-60R helicopters immediately transited to the new search area to continue the search and rescue mission. Kidd is covering more than 300 square miles of water space every four hours and is

meticulously investigating anything that may be evidence associated with aircraft debris. "Our helicopters are an extension of the ship's capabilities and provide us with the best chance of finding airplane debris," said Lt.j.g. Eric Bachtel, of Phoenix, Ariz., the ship's Combat Information Center Officer. "With extra watch standers in place, we are able to comb through any debris spotted from the ship or the aircraft and if needed retrieve the objects via grappling hook, small boats, or with our Search and Rescue swimmers deployed from the

ship or helicopters." Kidd searches more than 1,500 square miles of ocean each day, investigating any possible debris that may be linked to the airliner's crash. Kidd continues to support the overall Malaysian government search effort by sharing information and investigating possible leads. The KIDD crew remains persistent and hopeful that they will find indications as to the possible disappearance site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in order to shed some light on this tragedy.

BOURBON : Proposed Bid for Shares in BOURBON by JACCAR Holdings

BOURBON has been informed of a proposed bid for its shares at a price of 24 euros per share, announced March 16, 2014 by its main shareholder, JACCAR Holdings. This offer is conditional upon obtaining 50.1% of the capital and bank financing. This offer would allow JACCAR Holdings to strengthen its position in BOURBON's share capital and provide liquidity to shareholders. JACCAR Holdings has indicated that they do not intend to implement a squeeze-out following the completion of this offer. The proposed offer will be filed with the financial market authorities and the
terms of the Offer will be subject to the discretion of the AMF The Board of Directors of BOURBON has been informed of this offer and will conduct a preliminary review of the key terms of the public offer at a meeting to be held March 21, 2014.

Petronas, Shell Discover Oil at Limbayong

The discovery was made via the Limbayong-2 well during the appraisal of the Limbayong gas field by Shell. The appraisal well encountered 136 metres of oil bearing sands, and there are plans to conduct more appraisal work on the discovery to determine its recoverable volume.
PETRONAS’ Executive Vice President of Exploration and Production Dato’ Wee Yiaw Hin said: “We are indeed pleased with the discovery which affirms the hydrocarbon prospects of Malaysia’s deep water areas.” Iain Lo, Chairman of Shell Malaysia and Managing Director of Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Ltd said: “This discovery attests to the significant potential in this area and is a positive development for exploration activities in East Malaysia.”
The drilling of the Limbayong-2 appraisal well was carried out by the consortium of Shell Malaysia (35%), Conoco Phillips (35%) and PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (30%).

Talisman Releases Ocean General After Drilling CD-1X Well off Vietnam

Pan Pacific Petroleum (Vietnam) Pty Ltd, an Australia-based oil and gas exploration and production company, reported Monday that it has been advised by Talisman Vietnam 07/03 B.V., Operator of Block 07/03 Production Sharing Contract in the Nam Con Song Basin off Vietnam, that the plugging and abandonment of the 07/03-CD-1X exploration well drilled using the Ocean General (mid-water semisub) has been completed and the rig has been released.

Partners in the block are:

• Pan Pacific Petroleum (Vietnam) Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Pan Pacific Petroleum NL): 5 percent
• Talisman Vietnam 07/03 B.V. (Operator): 30 percent
• Talisman Vietnam 07/03-CRD Corporation LLC.: 25 percent
• Mubadala Petroleum (through its affiliate PearlOil [Ophiolite] Ltd): 25 percent
• PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Corporation Ltd: 15% percent

It’s a Pirate’s Life for Indonesia, as Piracy Attacks Spike

The Oscar-nominated film Captain Philips brought the threat of Somali piracy to the big screen last year. But if it were highlighting the current reality, it would have been better set in Indonesia. The sprawling archipelago has become the world’s top spot for pirate attacks, according to “Safety and Shipping Review 2014,” a report by a unit of global insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty that looked at key developments in maritime safety.
The number of attempted and actual acts of piracy in Indonesia has jumped seven-fold over the past five years, bucking a global downward trend in the number of sea piracy attacks. In 2013 the number of recorded attacks reached 264, a 40% drop from the time Somali piracy peaked in 2011, the AGCS report said, citing data from the International Maritime Bureau.

The picture is altogether different, however, in Indonesia, which accounted for 106 of those 264 attacks, a significant increase from the 15 incidents reported there in 2009.
Unlike the well-armed and organized pirates depicted in the film Captain Phillips, most of the attacks in Indonesia were “local, low level opportunistic thefts carried out by small bands of individuals,” the AGCS report said. Pirates in Indonesia “just want the cash aboard the vessel or to rob the crew of any valuables,” it continued.But the threat should not be dismissed, and needs to be controlled. Because one-third of the attacks in Indonesia were reported in the last quarter of last year, “there is potential for such attacks to escalate into a more organized piracy model,” said the report. 

Rogue Tanker Morning Glory Boarded by US Navy SEALS

Cairo: Rogue tanker Morning Glory, which reportedly broke through a Libyan naval blockade from the rebel-held port of As-Sidra, has been boarded by a US Navy SEAL team in international waters off Cyprus.

 

In a statement pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said that forces boarded and took control of the vessel at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments.

 

According to the statement: "The boarding operation, approved by President Obama and conducted just after 10 p.m. EDT on March 16 in international waters southeast of Cyprus, was executed by a team                                                         of U.S. Navy SEALs attached to Special Operations Command Europe.

 

"The Morning Glory will be underway soon to a port in Libya with a team of sailors from the USS Stout (DDG-55) embarked. The sailors will be supervising the transit.”

 

The vessel was flagged by North Korea until just after the incident occurred and is currently stateless. 

Our Prayers & Thoughts are Constantly With All Onboard the MH 370, Their Loved Ones & the Brave Men and Women Deployed for the Search & Rescue Efforts

Hoping for the the best, fearing the worst. Our thoughts and prayers are with Everyone and their Loved Ones on Malaysia Airlines flight 370...Our Heart goes out One & All!!!

BOURBON EVOLUTION 800 Series

The 95.6 mtr long and 21 mtr width BOURBON EVOLUTION 804 anchored off Singapore, On February 8th 2008, BOURBON announced the order of a series of 10 new generation, innovative, multipurpose and highly efficient IMR vessels designed by GPA (Guido Perla & Associates) with appropriate equipment to support its oil clients in expanding their deep offshore operations: the Bourbon Evolution 800.

The series is built in China by Sinopacific shipyard and the first of the series of 10, the Ungundja, has been operating off the coast of Angola since the end of 2011. The second in the series, the Bourbon Evolution 802, was delivered in September 2012 and operates off the coast of Nigeria.

Deliveries will continue until 2014. BOURBON worked with Guido Perla & Associates on the design and build of the Bourbon Evolution 800 series. They have collaborated many times before namely on the series of 76 Bourbon Liberty 100 and 200 vessels (PSV and AHTS) and the “H Class” PSVs. The Bourbon Evolution 800 series benefits from BOURBON’s expertise. Similarly to the Bourbon Liberty and “H Class” vessels, the Bourbon Evolution 800 series is equipped with a fuel saving diesel-electric propulsion system, redundant equipment and DP system to increase reliability even in adverse weather conditions. “The series of 10 Bourbon Evolution 800 vessels means BOURBON can provide clients with a new generation of versatile vessels devoted to subsea operations. They are designed to meet future challenges in the offshore oil sector and operate at depths of 3,000m in complete safety. These vessels provide a variety of services in operational and economic harmony with the deep offshore market,” says Christian Lefèvre, Chief Executive Officer of BOURBON.

“The Bourbon Evolution 800 vessels are in line with the BOURBON strategy for fleet standardization and management optimization as proved by the successful choice of dieselelectric propulsion system on the Bourbon Liberty series, 2 large cranes that can work simultaneously and DP3 dynamic positioning.” A main crane with a lifting capacity of 150 tons on the surface, provided by MacGregor Cargotec and capable of operations at depths of 3,000m. - An additional 40 tons crane provided by SMST. These cranes have a heave compensation system which reduces the effect of the vessel’s movement to provide greater stability thus increasing the accuracy of subsea operations (installing jumpers, Christmas trees etc.). The Bourbon Evolution 800 vessels provide the highest level of dynamic positioning (DP3) in addition to 6 propellers on each vessel.

In addition to the excellent work and relaxation conditions in the cabins, the Bourbon Evolution 800 vessels are unique in providing clients with a dedicated deck featuring all the features required for optimized management: IT and communication system and wide view of operations. The vessels are equipped with a diesel-electric propulsion system, particularly economical for offshore operations, whose 7 diesel-electric generators provide intelligent and improved energy management thus saving fuel The series was designed to provide a range of operational configurations e.g. to accommodate over 200 people (floatel), support well intervention operations (wireline) and well testing operations (well-testing). The Bourbon Evolution 800 series’ original configuration enables it to combat fire and pollution. The “stand-by” functions enable vessels to fight fire, rescue people from the water and deploy floating barriers to isolate hydrocarbons in the water and store them in the holds. Senior Vice President Business Management Subsea Services Patrick Belenfant says: “The trust our clients have shown us in our first three sisterships from the Bourbon Evolution 800 seriesproves that BOURBON’s range of subsea services is in line with their requirements in terms of safety, reliability and cost

EZRA Wins $125m in Offshore and Subsea Contracts

Singapore's Ezra Holdings has bagged contracts worth more than $125m including options for offshore support work and subsea construction.

EMAS Marine, Ezra's offshore support services division, added contracts for offshore support work in Malaysia, Thailand and Australia with the deployment of two anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels and one platform supply vessel (PSV).

EMAS AMC, the subsea services division, was awarded contracts to carry out subsea jobs in West Africa and Asia. The scope of work includes FPSO mooring repair work in West Africa, and the installation of flowlines, associated pipeline end terminations and spools in Asia.

Work for these projects is expected to start in the first quarter of 2014.

“The Asia Pacific region is an important market for us with offshore support, subsea construction and engineering activities expected to continue picking up as oilfield operators venture further offshore. With our strong roots here in Asia, we are well positioned to compete for the many upcoming projects in the region,” said Lionel Lee, CEO and managing director of Ezra.

UMW Unit Wins $45m Workover Programme Contract

UMW Oil & Gas unit UMW Petrodril Sdn Bhd (UPD), has won a MYR148m ($45.2m) contract for the provision of a hydraulic workover rig from Petronas Carigali, it said in a stock market announcement.

The contract, for an initial two-year period with one-year optional extension, is to provide the rig for Petronas Carigali's workover programme together with an accommodation work barge and a portable crane.

"The provision of the hydraulic workover unit (HWU) is expected to contribute positively to the earnings and net assets of the group for the financial year ending 31 December 2014," UMW Oil & Gas said.

Tanjung Langsat Port Sees Double Digit Growth for 2014

Malaysia's biggest non-state owned terminal operator Tanjung Langsat Port (TLP) in Johor saw total cargo throughput rise 47.7% to 11.6m tonnes last year from 7.85m tonnes the year before and forecasts more double digit growth this year, ceo Johari Shukri Jamil said in a press release.

“2013 was a milestone year for us; the 11.60m tonnes in total throughput achieved last year elevated the port to the country’s largest “private jetty” operator,” said Johari.
 

He credited the management's on-going business transformation to improve operational efficiency as well as the deepening of the navigation channel for both the dry and liquid jetties for the good results. "The team at TLP has made excellent progress in transforming the port into a niche development to cater to the needs of the oil and gas industry,” added Johari.
             
Growth has been good since TLP began its transformation programme in 2011, when from just 4.00m tonnes it nearly doubled throughput within a year. This growth was set against the background of increased vessel activity where the number of vessels docking at TLP had more than tripled from 252 in 2011 to 767 in 2013, Johari said as the deepening of the navigation channel enabled the docking of suezmax class vessels.
 
“The oil and gas industry has always been a global industry and we are expecting to see a steady growth this year. The outlook is positive and we are confident of achieving our throughput forecast of 15m tonnes for 2014," he said.
 
Johari noted that two additional liquid berths, which will bring the total number of liquid berths to seven, scheduled to be operational by mid-2014 will drive this double-digit growth, especially in terms of the port’s liquid cargo throughput which in turn will attract more oil and gas investors to come in.
                                                                                                                                              
On the dry bulk side, TLP forecasts an average annual growth rate of about 15% to 20%. TLP’s dry cargo is made up of steel coil, empty and full laden reels, and general cargo. Increasing bulk and break bulk activities will ensure continued cargo growth momentum, Johari said.

Meanwhile the port continues to receive strong interest from independent oil storage operators and oil traders to set up their operations there.